Holocaust insurance bill toned down

June 25, 2008 9:00am

The House Financial Services Committee chairman plans to remove a central feature of a bill on Holocaust-era insurance claims.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) plans to strip from the bill a requirement that European insurers publish lists of all Holocaust-era insurance policies to a federal registry if they wish to do business in the United States, the New York Sun reported. Frank also plans to limit the lawsuits survivors can bring.

The bill, the Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act, has divided the Jewish community. Several major Jewish organizations have argued that the bill would hinder future negotiations with Europe over Holocaust restitution claims. Advocates for the bill counter that negotiated efforts to restore unpaid insurance claims yielded only a fraction of the monies that were owed.

The Financial Services Committee is due to take up the bill Wednesday.